[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
From timberline (about 11,500 feet) up to our highest Colorado mountain
summit (Mt. Elbert 14,431 feet) climate is too severe for any trees.
This condition marks these areas off as a separate life zone called
Alpine or Arctic. Soil forms only slowly on these rocky summits, but
mosses, lichens, sedges and grasses have been here for ages of time, all
of them patiently building humus. Erosion carries less soil away from
the tops than it does from the lower hillsides. So in the spaces between
the barren looking rocks, good soil exists, and water, though mainly
falling as snow, and not quite as heavily as in the sub-alpine zone
below, is adequate for plants. Here grasses, sedges, a few dwarf shrubs
and herbaceous plants have all the sunlight to themselves without tree
competition. The ever-present adverse condition is low temperature,
frequently with strong wind.
It is a land of tough dwarf things. Perennials are the rule, though
annuals are found. Low woody mats with basal leaves and flowers only a
few inches high are a common pattern. Bulbs and tubers wedge themselves
between rocks, out of reach of ground squirrels, if possible. When
spring comes with a rush, usually late in June, these dormant plants
burst into life in the days of longest sunshine. Shoots of new growth
erupt from the ground with buds all formed ready to open. By the end of
July the seed crop is largely mature, and by mid-August the browns and
crimsons of fall colors in leaves and grasses spread a Persian carpet
over these heights. Warm days from then till winter are days of
germination for newly scattered seeds and, for established plants,
preparation of buds for next year.
It is in this zone of harsh living conditions that some individual
plants probably attain greater age than is normally reached by plants of
the lower life zones. We know of no statistical study to support this
statement, but observation of mats of moss campion, or of tufts of
alpine spring beauty, or of scarred old crowns of alpine forget-me-not,
indicates that they have safely survived the snow cover of a great many
alpine winters.
The view at the top of this page is from Trail Ridge in Rocky Mountain
National Park. Longs Peak is in the distance. In mid-July these
foreground slopes are a garden of alpine flowers.
Lily Family
Sand Lily, _Leucocrinum montanum_, NUTT.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flower is an inch in diameter, of 6 petals and sepals all alike
(perianth segments) united at their base into a tube over an inch long.
Several of these rise from the buried crown of the plant, as do also the
leaves, ⅜ inch wide and over 6 inches long, resembling heavy curved
blades of grass. The matted, cordlike roots store, through the long
dormant period, the starches and sugars needed for rapid Spring growth.
Grows in sandy soil in plains or low foothills. Blooms April-May.
When sand lilies begin to dot the gray plains with their singularly pure
white stars we can know that the season of growth and color is
returning. We called them Mayflowers and hoped they would be in bloom
for May-baskets. They usually were—along with Johnny-jump-ups (little
yellow violets) and sprays of pepper and salt parsley. To pluck them one
by one and suck the drop of nectar from the long white tube is one of
the delights of childhood. The plants are crowded with flowers during
the blooming season, but, when it is over, disappear completely from the
scene.
Lily Family
Wood Lily, _Lilium umbellatum_, PURSH
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
The flower, of flaring trumpet shape 3 inches in diameter, is formed of
6 petals and sepals, all alike, (perianth segments) tapering at both
ends. Color varies from rose-red to red-orange. Stem 15 to 30 inches
high, bearing a single flower (occasionally 2 or more) and several
whorls of leaves, comes from a round bulb. Picking the flower usually
kills the bulb. Grows in rich soil in partial shade near streams,
montane zone. Blooms July.
This is one of the most sought-after and breathtaking of our mountain
flowers. It used to grow in abundance, then almost disappeared due to
excessive picking. Now it is returning in secluded sylvan places. It
prefers moist, shady banks where its brilliant color lights the shadows
like a flame. The young flowers, with their big dark anthers, are the
brightest. As they fade, the anthers shrink and turn dull orange and the
flower has a tendency to become spotty. If you have the good luck to
find these lilies, stop and enjoy them in their woodsy background—but do
not pick any to take home.
Lily Family
Mariposa, _Calochortus gunnisonii_, WATS.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flower, more than 1 inch in diameter, is formed of 3 perianth segments,
which are narrow, greenish and sepal-like, and 3 segments which are
broad, showy and petal-like. On the inner surface of these latter, near
the base, are large, hairy glands of dark color. Stem is slender, 8 to
20 inches tall, with few linear leaves, and comes from a deeply buried
corm. Grows in fairly heavy clay soils on open grassy slopes in
foothills and lower montane zones. Blooms June-July.
The name mariposa recalls to us the high flat tableland of Mesa Verde
with thousands of these delicate lilies floating above the other flowers
like butterflies, as the Spanish name implies. Our species is one of the
most beautiful, with its tall stem and subtle coloring resembling a
small white tulip with grass-like leaves. Other species are creamy,
yellow, orange, pink, lavender, gray; some of them quite small, with
pointed hairy petals. Journeys to many interesting places will go with a
search for the mariposa in its infinite variety of color, shape and
habitat.
Lily Family
Glacier Lily, _Erythronium grandiflorum_, PURSH
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flowers, 1½ inches across of 6 bright gold perianth segments, all alike
and strongly re-curved, nod, singly or in twos or even threes, at the
top of a naked scape which rises from the deep-seated bulb. The 6
stamens, each tipped with a large yellow anther, surround a prominent
green style and hang downward. Plant is about 10 inches high, with only
two broad green leaves which sheath the base of the scape. Grows in
sub-alpine zone extending through montane zone. Occurs only on the west
side of the Continental Divide (except for a few limited areas
immediately on the east side). Blooms immediately after snow melts,
which is June in high places.
Below the snowbanks on Mt. Audubon, near Thunder Lake in Rocky Mountain
National Park, on slopes near Rabbit Ears Pass, and in many places on
the western side of the range, early summer brings one of the finest
flower shows in the west, which it is no exaggeration to call the “field
of the cloth of gold.” The glacier lily (also called avalanche or snow
lily—or, oddly enough—the dogtooth violet) begins to bloom right at the
foot of snow banks and follows the retreating ice up the mountainsides.
We have seen acres where it was hard to walk without stepping on several
plants, particularly in the northern mountains of Wyoming and Montana.
Orchid Family
Yellow Lady’s Slipper, _Cypripedium calceolus_, L.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flower, usually solitary, is shaped like a Dutch shoe about 2 inches
long. The sac-like toe part, formed by one of the 3 petals, is bright
yellow with greenish sheen, the other 2 petals, much narrower, extend to
the sides and are often twisted and streaked with brown. Plant is about
10 inches tall, with broad lance-shaped green leaves which enclose the
lower part of the flower stem. Grows on moist but not wet slopes in
montane zone. June.
In not too open aspen glades in middle elevations, a privileged seeker
after beauty may find this yellow lady’s slipper, largest of our native
orchids. It is one of several species of _Cypripedium_ (the name meaning
shoe of Venus) and is sometimes called moccasin flower. A smaller,
daintier orchid, the pink _Calypso bulbosa_, is more widely known. This
latter likes half sunny edges of our lodgepole forests, being quite
dependent on the humic acid of the needles. Often in large groups along
the remnants of a decayed tree trunk, they make an entrancing sight,
resembling fairy dancers. These are but two of about a dozen orchids
that grow wild in Colorado.
Four o’Clock Family
Prairie Snowball, _Abronia fragrans_, NUTT.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Individual flowers are formed of a slender calyx tube, 1 inch long,
flaring at its mouth into 5 white, petal-like lobes to make a tiny
salver ¼ inch across. They have no true petals. Numerous such flowers
are clustered to form the surface of a ball about 2 inches in diameter.
Plant has reddish stems, somewhat hairy, that creep on the ground, with
fleshy (succulent) green leaves arranged in opposite pairs. Grows in
plains on sandy soil. Blooms May-June.
Every plains child knows the prairie snowball—inhabitant of vacant lots
in towns, and of dry wind blown flats “in the country.” The cluster of
starry flowers is indeed round as a snowball and as white—the dark green
leaves are in sharp contrast with the bright red stems. The fragrance,
almost cloying it is so sweet, perfumes the air of early summer,
especially as evening coolness comes. The reddish-purple sand verbena of
the southwestern deserts and coastal sand dunes, _Abronia villosa_, is
also of this genus. The resemblances are quite apparent.
Buckwheat Family
Sulphur Flower, _Eriogonum umbellatum_, TORR.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Numerous flowers, each formed of 6 minute yellow perianth segments, are
grouped in round tight clusters at the ends of slender pedicels, several
such clusters radiating to form a flat-topped head (umbel) 4 inches
across. These heads are borne on erect hairy leafless stems (scapes), 8
to 15 inches tall. Oblong leaves about 1½ inches long, form a green mat
on the ground. Grows on open dry slopes of foothills and lower
mountains. Blooms June-September.
Many Species of _Eriogonum_ are found in Colorado, some of them
resembling the one pictured, and some with very different growth habits.
This common sulphur flower is one of the finest. Even in bud it is
brilliant, for the gold of its flowers, often touched with red, shows
before it is quite open. The soft sulphur yellow of the mature flowers
gradually changes to shades of orange, maroon and brown as they dry
rather than fade. They linger on their stems indefinitely and are fine
to mix with grasses and seed pods for a fall bouquet—they might even
trim an autumn hat!
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Buckwheat Family
Sand Begonia, _Rumex venosus_, PURSH
Flower parts are minute except the three inner sepals which rapidly
develop into conspicuous red to rose-colored wings or vanes about ½ inch
wide, attached to the seed. These vanes, with their seeds, develop into
compact clusters 2 inches or more in diameter. Leaves are oval or
oblong, fleshy and dark green, on short stout branches which are often
prostrate. Grows in plains. Blooms May-July.
This is just an ordinary dock closely related to the pest you dig from
your lawn, but a good example of a common wayside weed brightening the
bit of world in which it grows. That bit of world, for this particular
dock, is usually an ugly one, as it seems to choose the poorest soil it
can find, the cinders beside a railroad track—or the gravelly edge of a
country road. No one notices the small, insignificant flower, but its
hour of glory comes with the brilliant rose and red seed vanes that call
out gaily to every passerby. In the plains of western Colorado another
dock, _Rumex hymenosepalus_, is also spectacular growing to a height of
2 feet or more with a great column of rose-colored seed vanes.
Purslane Family
Spring Beauty, _Claytonia lanceolata_, PURSH
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flower is ½ inch across of 5 pale rose-colored petals, notched at the
end and with veins of darker shade. Sepals are only 2; plant is 6 inches
or less in height, with succulent stems and rather broad lance-shaped
leaves which rise almost as high as the loose raceme of 3 or more
flowers. Grows in rich soil montane and foothill zones. Blooms
immediately after snow melts which is late May to July, or much earlier
on warm slopes.
The plants of this species that grow in foothill locations often have
quite bright rosy color. They are great favorites, as their first blooms
hint that winter is nearly over and spring on the way. They have been
reported as early as January, and by mid-March they are often abundant
under scrub oaks on sunny foothill slopes. The east side of the Hogsback
near Golden is a good place to find early ones. The plant pictured above
has the pale color and general growth habit of those that grow high in
the montane zone. It often forms a carpet or ground cover of pale pink
bloom in the fields of glacier lilies. Another species, _Claytonia
megarhiza_, has a big root, to store food and moisture, and grows in the
alpine zone. We have found plants of it on the big flat summit of Pikes
Peak where other signs of spring are few.
Pink Family
Moss Campion, _Silene acaulis_, L.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flowers, ⅜ inch across, of 5 bright purplish-red petals, notched at the
end, spread from the top of a tubular calyx so that the whole flower
forms a tiny salver. Stems and leaves are so dwarfed and tightly grouped
as to give the appearance of a cushion of green moss 3 to 8 inches
across, studded with little reddish stars. Grows in alpine rocky areas
extending to peak summits. Blooms late June-early July.
This is one of the alpine flowers we share with all the alpine and
arctic lands of the Northern Hemisphere. High mountain ridges are its
home here, and if we travel north we keep finding it at progressively
lower elevations until it reaches the low barren lands of the arctic.
Always it is where winds are cold and climate is too rough for trees.
You might take it for a pad of green moss if it were not for its red
flowers, often in the form of a circlet near the plant’s edge. Close
examination shows a full-fledged plant, however, with leaves, stems and
a stout tap-root well buried in what soil there is below and around the
rock it presses against. Another member of the pink family that grows as
a mat against our timberline rocks is sandwort, _Arenaria sajanensis_.
Its flowers are white, and the plant less densely compacted. Related to
both of these alpine pinks are the numerous chickweeds of foothills and
mountains. They have low slender stems and their petals are white and
deeply notched at the end.
Buttercup Family
Pasque Flower, _Pulsatilla ludoviciana_, HELLER
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flowers, of 5 to 7 petal-like sepals, form a wide cup 1½ inches across,
white or pale lavender within, and much darker lavender to purple,
covered with silky hairs, on the outside. The numerous golden stamens
are prominent. The flower buds, quite furry at this stage, spring
directly from a buried root crown before the green leaves, divided into
several lobes, appear. Grows in foothills, especially on gentle north
slopes where extra snow has drifted. Blooms late March-April.
It goes also by the name of wind-flower, and often is called anemone.
Whatever name you choose, it is one of the best-loved flowers of the
Rockies. They are with us in March, going on into April, coming up
through late snows—keeping themselves warm with their furs about them.
The flowers start on short stems, but the whole plant grows quite large
and “leggy” as the season advances, and finally the fluffy seed plumes
offer their wares to every breeze. This same pasque flower is the state
flower of South Dakota. A northern species, growing in Glacier Park and
in Canada, _Pulsatilla occidentalis_, has larger flowers, of a creamy
color. Its cluster of seed plumes is large and dense enough to resemble
a dish mop.
Buttercup Family
Globe Anemone, _Anemone globosa_, NUTT.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flower, ¾ inch in diameter, of 5 to 9 showy petal-like sepals, usually
deep red, occasionally yellow, forms a shallow cup around the numerous
stamens and a conspicuous group of pistils which, after the flower
fades, become a round thimble-shaped seed cluster. The pedicels, bearing
the solitary flowers at their tips, are several inches long and covered
with silky hairs. Plant is about 1 foot tall, with subdivided leaves
near the base and on the sparingly branched stems. Grows in partial
shade in montane zone. Blooms June-July.
This globe anemone, related to the better known pasque flower, is one of
the many less conspicuous plants that add to the charm of a flowery
hillside, yet reserve their more delicate beauty for those who take time
to prowl. This particular specimen was found in a glade filled with
columbines. We would probably not have seen it if we had not stopped to
try one more columbine picture! _Anemone canadensis_ is a somewhat
larger plant with pure white flowers, rather woody stems and deep green
foliage. It grows in shady places along foothill streams, but only where
conditions are to its liking. In these spots it forms rather dense
colonies.
Buttercup Family
Nelson’s Larkspur, _Delphinium nelsonii_, GREENE
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flowers, ½ inch or more wide, are formed of 5 showy, dark blue,
irregularly shaped sepals, enclosing at their base 4 much smaller petals
of lighter color. The uppermost sepal extends backward as a slender spur
½ inch or more in length. About a dozen flowers on slender pedicels
group around a central erect stem to form a loose raceme which often
nods slightly at the top. Plant is 10 to 15 inches tall and bears rather
few leaves each sub-divided into linear segments. Grows in foothills
zone. Blooms late April to early June.
This small larkspur of the early spring looks much like the single
larkspur of an old-fashioned garden. Its favorite location is near the
base of a clump of scrub oak where a little snow has drifted in the
winter giving that spot a bit of extra water. The intense blue of these
flowers contrasts well with the leather brown color of last season’s oak
leaves. When spring is farther advanced other taller larkspurs, such as
_Delphinium geyeri_, called poison-weed by the stockmen, make a more
spectacular showing on low foothills and plains. All of the larkspurs
contain an alkaloid poison which is deadly to cattle and somewhat
dangerous to other stock.
Buttercup Family
Snow Buttercup, _Ranunculus adoneus_, GRAY
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flowers are an inch across, formed of several (3 to 15) broad,
overlapping golden petals having the glossy sheen of butter. The sparse
leaves are divided into linear lobes. These and the succulent stems grow
a few inches tall, breaking out of frosty soil with flower bud ready to
open. Grows on alpine and sub-alpine slopes near snow banks. Blooms when
snow melts, usually June to early July.
The hardiness of the snow buttercup is its outstanding characteristic.
It comes up through the snow because in the high altitude in which it
lives its time for fruition is short. It pushes a stout knuckle of stem
through the snow crust, attracting the sun’s heat by the dark color of
its stem, then the knuckle straightens, lifting the already formed bud
into an erect position. The bud opens rapidly and proceeds to spread out
in the hole caused by melting. Of the many glossy members of the
buttercup family, there are few of so rich a yellow, or which give such
an appearance of being all flower with inconsiderable leaf and stem.
Buttercup Family
Globeflower, _Trollius laxus_, SALISB.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flower is 1¼ inches across of 5 to 10 (or more) pale cream petal-like
sepals, with numerous yellow stamens and several pistils in the center.
Numerous petals, so dwarfed as hardly to be noticed, surround the base
of the stamens. Plants, 8 to 15 inches tall, often grow in groups and
bear several flowers, each on its own slender stem. Leaves are dark
green and deeply cut into 5 or more spreading lobes (palmate). Grows in
moist rich soil in sub-alpine and alpine zones. Blooms late May-July.
When the snowbanks melt in the alpine country, hundreds of temporary
runlets carry the snow water to timberline lakes and to permanent
streams. In the wet soil along these runlets and near these lakes,
globeflower is one of the common and very good looking plants. Both its
foliage and its flowers are graceful and charming. Associated with it is
usually marsh marigold, _Caltha rotundifolia_, which is also a member of
the buttercup family. Our Colorado marsh marigold is not gold at all,
but white—even a bluish-white. It grows with its feet right in the
water. Its leaves are entire and are all at the base of the sturdy low
plant. Its flowers are as large or slightly larger than those of
globeflower. It makes an effective companion for its more dainty
relative.
Buttercup Family
Columbine, _Aquilegia coerulea_, JAMES
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
The flower is formed of 5 sepals and 5 petals, alternately arranged and
all of them showy. The sepals are deep blue or sometimes quite pale,
forming a wide saucer-like star 3 inches across; the petals form a white
inner cup 1¾ inches across, and stretch back between the sepals as
hollow, slender 2-inch spurs. Plants are 2 feet or more high of several
delicate stems, usually carrying at their tops numerous flowers. The
deeply cut leaves are mainly concentrated at the plant base. Grows in
rich soil in montane zone, but extends into foothills and up to
timberline. Blooms June-July.
Colorado’s queenly state flower speaks for itself much more eloquently
than humans can speak for it. No portrait can do it justice. We have
found it in the very glade near Palmer Lake where James first saw it and
named it _coerulea_ for its celestial blue. We have found it in
countless aspen groves of the montane zone and finally on rocky scree
near timberline (a more compact plant there—with flowers sometimes white
or of a rosy hue). Always there is the thrill of real discovery—a new
realization of its beauty. A less common and even more exciting find is
the dwarf columbine, _Aquilegia saximontana_, that grows between rocks
above timberline.
Poppy Family
Prickly Poppy, _Argemone intermedia_, SWEET
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flower, 3 inches or more across, is formed of 6 brilliant white,
paper-like petals, surrounding numerous golden stamens with, at the very
center, a dark or even black stigma. Blossoms, in loose clusters opening
over a long period, crowd each other slightly at the tops of the
branching stems. Plant is 2 to 5 feet tall, with gray-green leaves
divided into lobes, and with yellowish spines along the stems and leaf
ribs. Grows in plains, foothills and lower montane zones. Blooms
May-September.
These big coarse plants, which may be seen in small groups along our
roads at culvert ends and in neglected fence rows, could be taken for
some sort of thistle if it were not for the amazing flowers which they
display in successive crops throughout the whole summer. The blossoms
look like big circles of white crepe paper with a center of spun gold.
As the season advances, the plants get ragged, but even in September a
few fresh flowers will appear. Some resemblance can be seen between
these blossoms and the Oriental poppies of our gardens, but only by
study of their botanical structure can we find why they are put in the
same family with golden smoke, _Corydalis aurea_, of our foothills, and
the bleeding-heart of old-fashioned gardens.
Mustard Family
Wallflower, _Erysimum asperum_, DC.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flowers, ½ inch in diameter, are formed of 4 petals arranged like a
Maltese cross, yellow to orange in color. They are clustered into a
round terminal head, the lower flowers of which open first so that
usually tubular seed pods (siliques) have formed near the base by the
time the top of the cluster is in bloom. Plants are 8 inches or more
high, of several stems from one root crown. Grows in foothills,
extending down to plains and up through montane zone. Blooms May-July.
The mustards are legion. Fields of them add a yellow note to many
western hillsides. They range from weedy poor relations, like shepherd’s
purse, to tall, showy spikes of prince’s plume, _Stanleya apinnata_.
Wallflower—despite its name suggesting a colorless personality—is one of
the handsome children of the family. Its flowers, larger than most
mustards, range in color from pale yellow, through orange, to rich
bronze shades. By no means all of the mustards are yellow. The flowers
of many of them are white, some, like the cardamine that grows in
abundance along sub-alpine water runs, being a very showy, brilliant
white.
Saxifrage Family
Snowball Saxifrage, _Saxifraga rhomboidea_, GREENE
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Individual flowers are ¼ inch or less across, each with 5 white petals,
and are grouped in a compact, round-topped head about 1 inch in diameter
which forms the top of a naked stem (scape). This scape rises to a
height of 8 inches, or sometimes much less, from the center of a flat
circle of oblong, leathery leaves. As the blossoms age, the flower
cluster becomes loose and sprangly. Grows on moist slopes in sub-alpine
and montane zones. Blooms May-July.
Saxifrage is another large family of quite varied sorts. Gooseberries
and mock orange come within its membership. The numerous species of alum
root, _Heuchera_, are also included, as are many little alpine and
sub-alpine plants that grow out of rock crevices in our high mountains.
Purple saxifrage, _Saxifraga jamesii_, with quite large red-purple
flowers, and dotted saxifrage, _Saxifraga austromontana_, with tiny
white flowers covered with pale dots, are among the best. All of these
seem able to thrive on only a teaspoonful of soil in a rock crack, if
only there is local moisture. The structural features that bring all
these plants within one family are not obvious. The leaves of many of
them are similar to the leaves of a gooseberry bush, though in some this
resemblance is remote, and in others entirely absent.
Orpine Family
Queen’s Crown, _Sedum rhodanthum_, GRAY
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Individual flowers, ¼ inch across, are formed of 4 or 5 bright rose
petals; numerous flowers being congested in a round head an inch or more
in diameter terminating a leafy shoot, several of which rise from a
woody root crown. Plant is 6 to 10 inches high, with narrow, gray-green,
fleshy leaves crowded along the succulent stems. Grows in wet places
alpine and sub-alpine zones. Blooms June-August.
Along the cold, mountain stream trickling out from Lake Isabelle, or
near any similar alpine lake or tarn, grows the _Sedum_, named queen’s
crown for the rosy-pink crowns of blossoms. These plants like to have
their feet in the water and often help to make the hillocky mounds on
the lake’s edge. Nearby and tolerating drier ground, is the king’s
crown, _Sedum integrifolium_, with its flatter head of deep maroon
flowers resembling the old-fashioned Bohemian garnet jewelry. The stems
and leaves of these sedums color brilliantly with the first frosts and
add richness to the Persian carpets of timberline in late August and
early September.
Rose Family
Bush Cinquefoil, _Potentilla fruticosa_, L.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flowers are an inch in diameter, of 5 broad, golden petals surrounding
20 or more stamens. Groups of several flowers are borne at the ends of
the numerous short branches. Plant is a dense shrub about 3 to 4 feet
high with many dark, woody, freely-branching stems. Leaves are pinnate,
with usually 5 or 7 narrow linear leaflets. Grows in moist parts of the
montane zone, also in the upper foothills and the lower sub-alpine
zones. Blooms continuously May to September.
This thornless yellow rose is one of the most widespread and most
ornamental shrubs of mountain areas. Individual clumps are rarely fully
covered with bloom at any one time, tending rather to bring out a few
fresh flowers each day of the season so that all summer long there are
buds, fresh blossoms, groups of faded petals, and small, dry, fuzzy
seeds (achenes) distributed over the plant. Other species of
_Potentilla_ grow also in our mountains. They are much smaller and most
of them herb-like, but the resemblance to a yellow single rose, and the
absence of thorns are common to them all. We have many wild roses in
this same family, of the genus _Rosa_, that have plenty of thorns and
closely resemble the red single roses of the garden.
Pea Family
Prairie Pea, _Lathyrus stipulaceus_, B. AND ST. J.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flowers, more than ½ inch across, are shaped like a cultivated sweet
pea, with very showy red banner and paler lateral petals and keel.
Plants, about 6 inches high, grow in irregular mats. The leaves are
pinnate, formed by about 4 pairs of narrow linear leaflets. These and
the stems are gray-green and, in most plains specimens, covered with
rather silky down. Grows in sandy soil on plains. Blooms May-June.
This, and the quite different looking plants shown on the next three
pages, give but a small sample of the pea family, which is one of the
largest and most important of the plant groups. More than 150 species in
this one family are native to Colorado, and additional ones have been
introduced for ornament or food. They take every form and size from the
little flat mats of deer clover, shown on the opposite page, to the rank
growing clumps of sweet clover that spread themselves along our roads.
Beans and alfalfa as well as sweet peas, lupines and even locust trees,
all belong to this big family.
Pea Family
Deer Clover, _Trifolium nanum_, TORR.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Individual flowers, pink-lavender to purple, formed along a keel, like
those of the cultivated clovers, about ½ inch long and rather slender,
grow singly or in twos or threes on short pedicels rising directly from
the root crown. The plant is a dense mat, often a foot or more across,
covered with small 3-foliate leaves. Grows on rocky flats or slopes in
alpine zone. Blooms June-July.
For many, acquainted only with the cultivated clovers of lawn and
meadow, it is a pleasure to know that the high pastures grazed by deer
and elk have clovers as well. At least three species are familiar to
observing travelers along Trail Ridge, or up Mt. Evans, or along any
road that crosses the enchanted land where trees stop and dwarfed plant
life takes over. The deer clover pictured here likes rocky places. Its
flowers are packed close together, but not clustered in heads as are
those of its alpine neighbor, _Trifolium dasyphyllum_, which closely
resembles the white clover of our lawns, though with touches on its
petals of red-brown. In the high places, extending down through the
sub-alpine zone there is also a bright red clover, _Trifolium parryi_,
smaller but otherwise much like the cultivated red clover.
Pea Family
Lambert’s Loco, _Oxytropis lambertii_, PURSH
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Individual flowers, about ½ inch wide, are formed of 5 dissimilar
petals, usually magenta red, sometimes other shades from rose to purple.
The banner bends back slightly and carries markings of lighter color
near its base; the 2 lateral petals are plain and angle forward; the 2
lower petals form a narrow keel. Numerous flowers, attached at the calyx
base along the upper third of a naked stem, form a showy spike 10 inches
or more tall, several of which rise from one root crown. Leaves,
pinnate, with numerous green leaflets, rise also from the root crown and
are about half the height of the flower spikes. Grows in foothills and
higher parts of plains zone. Blooms May-July.
The many members of the pea family going by the names of loco, vetch,
milk vetch, etc., are usually considered crass weeds and are in
disrepute because some of them are poisonous to stock. They often grow
in soil containing traces of selenium, and are doubly harmful in that
case. Where other browze is good, animals usually leave the toxic ones
alone, except the occasional horse that becomes “an addict” and is
“locoed.” In spite of these obnoxious qualities, there are few plants
that give more bright and decorative touches to the plains.
Pea Family
Golden Banner, _Thermopsis divaricarpa_, A. NELS.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
The individual flowers are about ¾ inch across, each formed of 5
dissimilar golden petals. The top petal is an upright banner, with a
wing petal on each side and in the center the 2 keel petals folded
together. A dozen or more flowers are attached by short pedicels to the
upper part of the stem, forming a loose raceme. Plants, of one or
several erect leafy stems from a root crown, are 1-2 feet tall. Grows in
foothills and montane zones. Blooms April-July.
Several closely allied species share the name of golden banner, and
among them cover a very wide range in all parts of Colorado from the
plains well into the mountains. They spread both by seeds and by
root-runners resulting in quite large colonies. They seem to be
unpalatable to livestock so, in spite of their attractive looking
leaves, they stay fresh while other plants around them look browzed.
Everywhere they are gay and decorative. A bright field of them near the
Platte River, bowing to the wind, banks of them in open glades of the
Greenhorn Mountains, and pale yellow clumps along the trail to Lulu
City, are prized flower memories.
Loasa Family
Stickweed, _Mentzelia nuda_, T. AND G.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flowers, about 2 inches wide, are formed of 10 narrow, creamy, petals
which spread wide and surround a radiating cluster of 100 or more pale
stamens as long as the petals. Plant is 2 to 4 feet high of white shiny
stems branching freely from one main stem, and rather sparsely covered
with deeply indented, light green leaves of a peculiar rough texture.
Grows on plains and low foothills. Blooms July-August.
The leaves of this plant are covered with minute barbed hairs which
cling to cloth so firmly that a spray of several flowers placed upon a
coat lapel will stay almost as dependably as if fastened with a pin.
They have the feel of fine-grained sandpaper. The flowers are very
responsive to light conditions. All through the morning and well into
the afternoon they are tightly closed, then about four o’clock, or a
half hour earlier if clouds reduce the light, they spread into full
bloom. This opening proceeds so rapidly that the movement of the petals
is quite easily seen. In a period of twenty minutes or less a colony of
the plants will change its whole appearance from inconspicuous weeds to
a gorgeous display of big pale stars. A related species, _Mentzelia
decapetala_, has even larger flowers of deeper cream color. It waits
until after sundown to open.
Cactus Family
Strawberry Cactus, _Echinocereus triglochidiatus_, ENGELM.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flowers are brilliant scarlet, 2½ inches across, with a conspicuous
group of green stigmas in the center. Plant is a single, erect,
cylindrical, dark-green joint or stem about 5 inches high, several to
many of which often group closely together forming a mound. The stems
are strongly ridged and carry sharp spines in clusters. Grows in rocky
or gravelly soil on plains and into foothills, southwestern Colorado.
Blooms May.
This is related to some larger _cacti_ that grow in Arizona, and there
get the name of hedgehog. The name pincushion is broadly used for all
the small round _cacti_ of our area even though they are not too closely
related to each other. The bright, strawberry-red flowers of the plant
shown above quite set it apart from the pincushions of eastern Colorado
plains. Among these are hen-and-chickens cactus, _Echinocereus
vividiflorus_, with small, greenish-yellow flowers, also, spiny stars,
_Coryphantha vivipara_, a round little cactus with shiny purple flowers.
These plants are so like the prairie sod in color as to defy search when
not in bloom. Ball cactus, _Pediocactus simpsonii_, of foothills and
montane zones, is quite a perfect globe in shape, 3 to 6 inches in
diameter, and has small pink flowers closely grouped at the top of the
globe.
Cactus Family
Grizzly Bear Cactus, _Opuntia trichophora_, BRITTON AND ROSE
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flowers are 3 inches or more across, usually light-yellow with fine
sheen, several of them erupting from the edge of a flat, oval joint.
Plant spreads over a circular area, about 2 feet in diameter, and is
made up of numerous connected flat joints, of light-green color, all
heavily armored with pale, sharp spines, some of which, in old plants,
may be flexible and hair-like. Grows on clay soil in foothills and
plains of middle and western Colorado. Blooms June-early July.
Several species of Opuntia closely resemble each other. Some of them,
including a few found in Colorado, bear soft, juicy fruits which are
quite good eating when the prickles on the skins are removed, so all of
them are called prickly pear. The one shown above grows freely on the
high grassy flats of the San Luis Valley. It bears dry, hard fruits, as
do most of our Colorado species. The prickly pears, like all the other
cacti, accumulate moisture, when they get a chance, in the soft pulp of
their round or jointed stems. Then, over periods of drought, this
moisture is used to produce flowers, to mature seeds and to keep the
plant alive. The whole plant shrinks visibly if the times between drinks
are long. But for the defensive armor of their spines, few of them would
survive, because in a thirsty land every hungry cow is looking for
moisture too.
Evening Primrose Family
Yellow Evening Primrose, _Oenothera brachycarpa_, GRAY
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flowers are cadmium-yellow, fading old-rose, 2½ inches across, of 4 wide
petals. The 4 narrow sepals bend back and at their base merge into a
hollow tubular stem. The style branches at its tip into 4 conspicuous
slender stigmas. Plant has little or no main stem; leaves are
dark-green, strap-shaped, 3 inches long. Grows in foothills, but only
where soil is somewhat marly. Blooms May-June.
Look for this one of our numerous evening-primroses about Memorial Day.
Soil formed from the disintegration of Niobrara shale such as we find
along the Hogsback near Denver, or along the Boulder-Lyons road, is its
preference. The plants are rather ragged, but the flowers draw all our
attention to their soft, clear yellow as they spread open in the
sunshine. They last but a day—fading into soft rosy colors. The white
members of this family are much better known. Several such species
common on the plains are so responsive to early summer rain that within
days after a good shower all our roadsides and even vacant lots will be
gay with their short-lived beauty.
Evening Primrose Family
Fireweed, _Epilobium angustifolium_, L.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Individual flowers, 1 inch across, are formed of 4 wide-spreading,
magenta petals, and are attached by longish pedicels to a central stem,
so that the whole flower cluster (inflorescence) is a loose raceme
forming the top foot or more of a tall leafy shoot, several of which
rise from a woody root crown. Leaves are narrow, 2 inches or more in
length. The entire plant is often 4 feet or more tall. Grows in sunny
openings in montane zone. Blooms June-August.
Webster’s Dictionary describes fireweed as “any of several weeds,
troublesome in clearings or burned districts.” To use “troublesome” in
connection with this great “willow-herb” of the Rockies seems most
unkind. We are grateful to have it rush into devastated areas to cover
scars with its bright pink to magenta blossoms. The whole plant reddens
as it ages. The flower matures into a long thin pod which splits and
curls releasing feathery seed carriers. A less common low growing
species with larger flowers and broader leaves, _Epilobium latifolium_,
also grows in the area. It is a real find. A few grow not far below
Loveland Pass.
Heath Family
Pipsissewa, _Chimaphila umbellata_, NUTT.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flower, ½ inch across, formed of 5 rose-pink petals that bend back and
surround, at the center, a conspicuous bright green ovary which is
tipped with a disc-like stigma. The 10 prominent stamens, spreading from
near the base of the ovary, look like short claws. Plant is 8-12 inches
tall, bearing a cluster of several flowers at its top. Leaves are shiny
and evergreen with saw-toothed edges, arranged in whorls along the woody
stems, but most numerous at the base of the plant. Grows in moist acid
soil under pine or spruce trees in montane zone. Blooms late
July-August.
The members of the heath family like shade, acid soil and moisture.
These conditions they find in the woods of the Northwest, where a great
variety of them, including rhododendrons and azaleas, grow in abundance.
Colorado has its share of the smaller heaths for those who look for them
in shady spots and along mossy trails near mountain streams. The trail
to Calypso Falls in Rocky Mountain National Park is good hunting, not
only for pipsissewa, but for the pyrolas and for the tiny white
wood-nymph, _Moneses uniflora_, all of them heaths. Kinnikinnick,
_Arctostaphylos uva-ursi_, is a heath of prostrate growth habit quite
common on mountain slopes. Bright red berries remain among its evergreen
leaves until Christmas.
Primrose Family
Brook Primrose, _Primula parryi_, GRAY
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Individual flowers, almost ½ inch across, are formed of 5 brilliant,
crimson, spreading corolla lobes which join at their base into a narrow
tube; dark shadings and yellow markings at the throat of the tube give
the effect of a round eye. A dozen or more flowers, each on a nodding
pedicel, are clustered at the top of a stout dark stem which rises from
a whorl of deep-green, broad, lance-shaped leaves. Plant is about 10 to
20 inches tall. Grows in sub-alpine zone or slightly higher. Blooms
June-early July.
This spectacular primrose grows at the edge of cold streams, or often on
rocky-mossy hillocks right in mid-stream. One never forgets the picture
of their beauty—the flower clusters so rich in color, the alpine
background, the mat of moss and deep green leaves. Too bad for such a
plant to spoil any part of it with a most disagreeable fragrance, yet
that does remove any temptation to take them home. On the higher
tundras, a charming find is the tiny fairy primrose, _Primula
angustifolia_, similar in color, though not so vivid. A single
short-stemmed flower is usually all that this plant carries.
Primrose Family
Shooting Star, _Dodecatheon radicatum_, GREENE
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Individual flowers, ¾ inch across, are formed of 5 crimson, rather
narrow, petals or corolla lobes which flare outward and backward, but
unite at their base into a short tube. From this tube 5 conspicuous
anthers, over ¼ inch long, grouped together like a sharp straight beak,
protrude forward. Ten or more flowers, each on a slender pedicel, nod in
a cluster at the top of a stout scape which rises 10 to 15 inches high
from a basal mat of dark-green, oblong leaves. Grows along streams and
in wet meadows, in montane and sub-alpine zones. Blooms June-early July.
Both the coloring and the shape of this little flower are fancy indeed.
It is small wonder that such names as shooting-star and bird-bill have
been given it. The crimson of its petals contrasts strongly with its
conspicuous almost black “bill,” and between these colors is a little
circlet of white, often shaded with yellow markings. A whole meadow of
such flowers is a sight well worth a trip to South Park, or to other of
our high meadow areas, where shooting-stars can be found in profusion.
In blooming season they follow the wild iris and, in turn, they are
followed by the low, red lousewort, _Pedicularis crenulata_, all of
which can in favorable seasons give fine mass color effects.
Gentian Family
Fringed Gentian, _Gentiana elegans_, A. NELS.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flowers are 2 to 3 inches long, of 4 deep purple-blue petals, fitted
together to form a square column for over half their length, then, in
sunlight, flaring outward to exhibit fringed tops and upper edges. Each
flower is at the end of a stem which bears several pairs of oblong,
opposite leaves. Plants are about 12 inches high of several erect stems
branching from near the base. Grows in sub-alpine wet meadows. Blooms
August-September.
The lush hay meadows of Colorado’s upland parks are bright through the
summer with a succession of flowers. Late in the season come the
gentians. There are several species of these (we have counted a dozen on
a single trip), some of them quite uninteresting, weedy plants. The
queen of them is the fringed gentian, growing in abundance along the
edge of these high hay meadows, and even persisting in the stubble after
haying is past. A few of them last into late September. The flowers
close up under cloudy skies, but to find masses of them full-open on a
sunny day, when they display their fringed petals and large golden
stamens, is a heart-warming experience to be treasured for flowerless
days ahead.
Milkweed Family
Milkweed, _Asclepias speciosa_, TORR.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Individual flower is a rosy, 5-point, star about ⅜ inch across, at the
center of which is a group of 5 small appendages curving inward and
forming a crown around the style and stamens. Numerous flowers cluster
together into a ball about 3 inches in diameter. Plants are about 3 feet
tall with thick broad leaves, the flower clusters borne at the top of
the stem and in axils of upper leaves. Grows on plains, especially along
ditch banks. Blooms June-July.
The common weeds are too often taken for granted and not appraised for
their real beauty. This milkweed is in such a group—a coarse-growing
plant along country roads, often dust covered, yet with flowers of fine
delicate color and real charm whether we examine them singly or fix our
attention on the compact cluster in which they grow. As autumn comes the
dry leaves do not drop, but cling to the stem, rattling in the wind. The
rough seed pods, often four inches long, turn a rich brown, and finally
split open revealing a filling of lustrous, silky, down from which is
gradually released the seeds—brown-clad paratroopers with the most
airy-fairy parachutes in the world.
Morning-glory Family
Bush Morning-glory, _Ipomoea leptophylla_, TORR.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
The flowers, shaped like pink trumpets with maroon striations, 3 inches
long and 2 inches across the mouth, are scattered freely along the outer
third of the stout yellowish stems which form a thick bush 2 feet or
more high. New buds coming out each day keep the plant in bloom for the
morning hours of several weeks. Leaves are narrow and linear, 2 inches
long; the root is large and spongy. Grows in sandy soil on plains.
Blooms July.
This morning-glory is no clinging vine, even though its flowers—like
those of its cultivated relative on the back yard fence—do open only in
the coolness of dawn and wither in the heat of noon. For all the
sturdiness of individual plants, with their roots going “clear to
China,” they do not seem to multiply rapidly and colonies of them may be
miles apart. There are some fine bushes on the sandy hills along the
Denver-Parker road, but the colony is becoming smaller rather than
expanding. The common bindweed, _Convolvulus arvenis_, is a member of
this same family. Its ability to spread rapidly along roads and into
cultivated fields makes it a serious pest.
Waterleaf Family
Purple Fringe, _Phacelia sericea_, GRAY
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Numerous purple flowers, each ¼ inch in diameter, crowd at and near the
top of an erect hairy stem, making a cylindrical flower spike 3 inches
or more in length. The 5 stamens of each flower are tipped with bright
golden anthers and stick out farther than the petals, giving the effect
of gold-headed pins radiating from a purple cushion. Plant is 6 to 12
inches tall of several leafy stems from a woody crown, the leaves
divided into numerous narrow lobes. Grows in rather dry soil, montane to
sub-alpine zones. Blooms May-July.
Many other species of _Phacelia_ live in desert places where we have
learned to know and admire them, but our first acquaintance—and last
love—is this purple fringe of the montane zone. Its color is deeper,
more velvety, and the pollen of its anthers brighter gold than most of
its desert brethren can boast. It keeps, however, considerable tolerance
for dry places, so that fresh road-fills are gay with it. The
mountaineer who views his flowers only from a car has no excuse for not
knowing this one.
Borage Family
Alpine Forget-me-not, _Eritrichium elongatum_, JOHNSTON
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flowers, ⅜ inch in diameter, are formed of deep-blue (occasionally
white) petals, spreading into a little flat disc and joining at their
base into a short tube. Minute golden crests in the throat of this
corolla tube, often bordered by white, give the effect of a central eye.
Plant is formed of a tough woody root crown bearing several very short
leafy shoots with flower clusters at the top. Entire plant is compact,
covered with short silky hairs, and rarely 3 inches high. Grows on flat
spots between rocks in alpine zone extending clear to peak summits.
Blooms late June-early July.
The plant “association” pictured above is such as we find on Trail
Ridge. It has bright lichen, sedum, polemonium and alpine
forget-me-not—the kind of miniature garden that makes high altitude
flower hunting so much fun. The woody base of the forget-me-not is built
to stand the cold of long winters. The flowers—tiny and delicate for so
rugged a habitat—are of heaven’s own blue. Their exquisite perfume is
elusive. Only once have we found them in such abundance that the
fragrance called out to tell us where they were hiding. Their range is
wide, however, and in the short blossoming season there is a good chance
of finding a few on the slopes of any of our high peaks.
Phlox Family
Sky Pilot, _Polemonium viscosum_, NUTT.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Numerous violet-blue flowers, each about ½ inch across, of 5 rounded
corolla lobes joining in a funnel-like tube, are clustered into a head
about 2½ inches in diameter, which nods slightly on its erect stem.
Plants are about 8 inches high, with numerous bright-green, pinnate
leaves cut into many narrow leaflets. The leaves may be erect or may
interweave somewhat at the base of a close group of several plants.
Grows in rocky places, alpine zone. Blooms late June-early July.
The sky pilot, growing among rocks up where the sky seems very near,
reflects its blue and so is supposed to direct our thoughts upward. This
same feeling is embodied in the name of another species of _Polemonium_,
Jacobs ladder, _Polemonium pulcherrimum_, the staggered leaves of which
may represent the steps by which we climb. Sky pilot seems very much
affected by the particular season. In a dry summer, it is straggly and
manages to produce only a few blooms of faded blue. In a good year,
large clumps of sturdy erect plants make patches of deep color, accented
by their golden stamens. The leaves have a strong, offensive odor, but
the flowers are honey sweet.
Phlox Family
Scarlet Gilia, _Gilia aggregata_, SPRENG.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Individual flower, 1½ inches long, is formed of a slender trumpet-like,
bright-scarlet (sometimes coral pink) corolla flaring at the mouth into
5 narrow lobes. Numerous flowers attached by short pedicels, are carried
in small groups along one side of the green stem. Plant is about 18-24
inches tall, usually of one main stem, with sometimes a few branches.
Leaves are deeply cut into thin linear subdivisions, usually curved.
Grows in plains and foothills zones. Blooms June-August.
In many otherwise barren areas, the red gilia or sky rocket plant
spreads its blaze of color in large patches or hangs, a single wand of
bloom, over the edge of the trail. It keeps blooming through the summer,
a few stragglers holding on till Labor Day. In early September we have
found them in the Wet Mountain Valley brightening the brown of the
autumn grasses. A white species, _Gilia attenuata_, tends to grow at
lower elevations—the red higher in the foothills. The pale pink and
coral plants are probably hybrids.
Figwort Family
Indian Paintbrush, _Castilleja integra_, GRAY
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
The true flowers are slender, two-lipped tubes of pale or greenish color
about 1 inch long. They are surrounded and often completely hidden by
the conspicuous, brick-red, modified leaves (bracts) which form a
flower-like cluster at the upper ends of the stems. The bract colors in
this species vary considerably through several shades of red. Plant is
8-15 inches tall composed of several leafy stems, very tough and woody
at their lower ends, rising from a woody root crown. Grows in foothills
and higher plains, extending upward through montane zone. Blooms
June-July.
In the early summer, this spectacular plant may be seen in the prairie
stretches along the highway between Denver and Colorado Springs—or a bit
later in the season—literally carpeting the drier areas of South Park.
In higher altitudes, particularly in the well-watered vales of Engelmann
Spruce, there are other species with bracts of brilliant shades of rose
and maroon. In those same high gardens and on above timberline there is
a yellow paintbrush. The fortunate flower hunter may even be rewarded by
a yellow one tipped with red—or red edged with yellow.
Figwort Family
Penstemon, _Penstemon unilateralis_, RYDB.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Individual flower is about ½ inch wide and somewhat longer, formed of a
bell-shaped, lavender-blue corolla which flares at its mouth into 5
lobes separated into two groups. Numerous flowers, in groups of 3 or
more, are closely arranged along one side of the top half of each stem,
several stems rising from a root crown. Plant is 2 feet or more tall,
with narrow tapering leaves, opposite each other in pairs. Grows in
foothills and montane zones. Blooms late June-July.
This is but one of twenty or more species of Penstemon found in
Colorado. Some, such as _Penstemon angustifolius_, with its azure blue
flowers, grow on the plains. A few are dwarf species of the sub-alpine
zone such as _Penstemon harbourii_. Every zone and every section has its
quota, and they range in color through all shades of lavender, blue,
purple, and even red. In details of flower structure, as well as in
size, they vary considerably. All of them, however, have a tubular
corolla of some shape, terminating in five lobes, divided into two
groups, giving them a two-lipped appearance. From this their
relationship to garden snapdragons is apparent. In the penstemons, also,
the topmost of their five stamens is sterile and often tipped with a
little brush of hairs. This gives them the name of beardstongue.
Composite Family
Gaillardia, _Gaillardia aristata_, PURSH
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flower head, 3 inches or more across, is formed of a central red disk
made up of many minute tubular flowers (florets), surrounded by an outer
circle of long flat golden rays cleft at tips into 3 teeth. Plants are 2
feet or more high of several rough stems usually erect, but sometimes
contorted. The dark green leaves are lance-shaped and rough. Grows in
foothills. Blooms June-July.
Do you have one just like this in your garden? Cultivation has changed
the gaillardia less than it has most native plants. It was born a
handsome, showy flower. There is charm in its notched rays and in the
way the red of the central disk flowers runs outward into the gold of
the rays, as though the painter had been careless with his brush and
lavish with his colors. It grows far beyond the limits of Colorado. In
the rough breaks of the Montana hills several separate plants will
spread out and interweave as a colorful mass, giving it there the name
“blanket-flower.”
Composite Family
Rabbit Brush, _Chrysothamnus nauseosus_, H. AND C.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Individual flower heads are about ¼ inch across and double that in
length, each formed of a dozen or more tubular bright gold florets
closely compressed at their bases into a green involucre. Numerous such
heads are clustered loosely together into round-topped groups (cymes) at
the ends of stems and branches. Plant is a wide-branching, woody shrub
2-4 feet high with small, green-gray, linear leaves. Grows on dry plains
and lower foothills, especially common in western Colorado. Blooms
September-October.
Most of the better known composites have spreading rays—each of which is
really a flower, though usually sterile—surrounding a disc of less
conspicuous tubular flowers, these latter being normally the fertile
ones. Sunflowers are familiar examples. Throughout some genera of this
great family, and in various species of additional genera, the rays are
totally absent. Rabbit brush is one of the composites whose flower heads
have no rays. They are showy only because so many of them cluster
together, and because each small flower contributes a speck of bright
gold. They are distinctly plants of desert lands, and in the fall season
each big clump is a perfect mound of color. As winter nears, the color
pales and fades, though flowers hang on a long time. Rabbit brush is not
a sagebrush, even though both grow on the same dry plains and both are
members of the composite family.
Composite Family
Easter Daisy, _Townsendia sericea_, HOOK.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flower heads, 2 inches across, are formed of about 30 white rays,
slightly striated and indented at the tips, surrounding a disc, about ¾
inch in diameter, of numerous tubular gold-colored florets. Plant is
about 3 inches high and carries one or several flower heads right on the
top of a spreading tough root crown from which also rise numerous,
narrow, linear leaves about 2-3 inches long. Grows on grassy plains, and
foothills. Blooms April-May.
These are among the very earliest of the plains flowers. Their typical
occurrence is as isolated plants, one here and one there between grass
turfs in areas of rather tight prairie sod. They are so low and compact
that they are not easy to find, even though their beauty well justifies
the search. Spring has come when Easter daisies are out, even though the
plains are still clad in winter gray with only a faint suggestion that
in time the range will be green. Several other members of this daisylike
genus are found in the foothills and plains. One of the commoner of
these, _Townsendia eximia_, is easily distinguished by its short
spreading branches which carry a few leaves.
Composite Family
Showy Fleabane, _Erigeron speciosus_, C. FONG
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flower head, 1½ inches across, is composed of about 200 narrow rays of
brilliant lavender color, surrounding a button-like center ½ inch in
diameter, of numerous, bright-gold, tubular florets packed closely
together. Plant is 1½ to 3 feet high, freely branching, with numerous
flower heads; leaves oblong or oval 2-3 inches long. Grows in shady
places, rich moist soil, montane and sub-alpine zones. Blooms late
July-September.
As the season advances, these aster-like flowers become the most
conspicuous color notes in our high-altitude aspen groves. They come
after early flowers are gone and bloom with a profusion unknown to most
shade-loving plants. Before they too are gone a leaf here and there on
the geranium plants in these same places will have turned bright red; on
the ground, ivory colored puff-balls will be ready to discharge their
clouds of brown spores, and the very first of the aspen leaves will have
turned yellow and be drifting down. Showy fleabanes may linger to catch
the first fall snows. Another of the many members of this genus,
_Erigeron trifidus_, grows on the plains and brings out its small white
blossoms in late April when it may catch the last spring snows.
Composite Family
Alpine Sunflower, _Hymenoxys grandiflora_, PARKER
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flower head is 3 to 4 inches across, the central disk, an inch in
diameter, made up of over a hundred tiny, tubular, golden florets,
surrounded by about 30 bright yellow rays which are flat and notched at
the outer end. Plant is 5 to 15 inches tall of one or several woolly
stems, with leaves divided into several narrow lobes. Grows on alpine
slopes. June-July.
This woolly-stemmed, dwarf sunflower, sometimes called
old-man-of-the-mountains, or sun-god, is a startling surprise for the
newcomer to our above-timberline tundras. One expects smaller more timid
flowers here, and so at first the big bright faces of these plants seem
out of place. Then we come to love them for their gay defiance of tough
growing conditions and think of them as the proper guardians of high
windy places. Whole colonies of them will be found with all the flower
heads faced in the same direction. This will be a direction from which
they receive strong light, and is a form of heliotropism. The stems,
however, do not twist through a full half circle each day to follow the
sun.
Composite Family
Thistle, _Circium undulatum_, SPRENG.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Flower heads, 1½ to 2 inches broad, are solitary at the ends of stems
and branches, and made up of numerous (100 or more) rose-colored,
tubular florets fluffing out widely at their tops and grouped tightly
together at their bases into an involucre made of many little,
overlapping green bracts. Plant is about 3 feet tall with gray-green
deeply cut leaves; stem and leaf ribs armed with prickles. Grows on
plains, extending into foothills. Blooms May-September.
Thistles of some sort are found in all parts of Colorado. Above
timberline they take on grotesque shapes. In one, high-altitude thistle,
_Circium hookerianum_, the whole woolly top of the plant, formed of
compressed leaves and inconspicuous flower heads, bends over to resemble
the head and neck of some shaggy animal. In our sub-alpine hay meadows a
different species, _Circium drummondii_, may spread flat on the ground
with no main stem and keep its flower heads so low that the mowing
machine goes right over it catching only tops of a few leaves. On the
plains are other species with shaving-brush-like flower heads. In spite
of the prickles on their leaves and stems, horses nip off the flower
heads and eat them with relish. Donkeys and mules seem to like them even
better.